Hot News Mix: The Delhi Gang Rape, One Year Later

A year later, what’s’ changed? Rape convictions numbers alone don’t offer much hope that things have changed since last year’s horrific gang rape of a 23-year-old student in Delhi on December 16, 2012. Of the 706 New Delhi rape cases filed last year, only one, the fatal rape on December 16, ended in conviction, writes Sunny Hundal in The Guardian. But what has changed is media attention and interest in stories on violence against women, as well as challenges to the shaming of rape victims with more of them coming forward with their identities. [The Guardian]

The Delhi gang-rape victim’s family, a year later. A year after the Delhi gang-rape victim’s attack, the media follows up on the family of the Delhi gang rape victim. They live in a new, larger apartment provided by authorities and her father has a better paying, less back-breaking job.

“But sometimes I feel,” the father tells me, “poverty was better for us. We slept well. We were happier. Today, we have everything, but yet nothing. Without our daughter our world has turned colourless”. [BBC]

Remembering Peter O’Toole. Following the recent death of famed actor Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia, Pygmalion, Ratatouille), Pakistani politician and former crickter Imran Khan and actor Anumpam Kher took a trip down memory lane to remember their personal experiences with the acting legend.

My 1st acting job was of an extra with Peter O’Toole in KIM. I had one line with him. His presence & performances were mesmerising. RIP

Big fat Mittal wedding. Columbia grad Shristi Mittal, niece of billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, got married in Spain this month. Lakshmi Mittal is chairman and CEO of the world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal. His daughter Vanisha’s 2005 Paris wedding, with an engagement ceremony at Versailles and a performance from Kyle Minogue among other indulgences, is one of the most expensive weddings in history.

Barcelona was picked as the location for Shristi’s wedding to investment banker Gulraj Behl because her father Pramod is a fan of architect Antoni Gaudi’s work. Hundreds of staff were flown in from India and Thailand to work on the event. The total bill? Reportedly $82 million. [Forbes, Hello]

The Element off Sing-Off. The only all-female group competing on the televised a capella competition Sing-Off was eliminated last night, taking with it vocalist Manjula Raman.

Six maps showing religion in the United States. “With what is arguably the most widely observed holiday of the nation’s most popular religion right around the corner, now seems as good a time as any to look at the state of religion in America’s states and counties,” writes GovBeat reporter Niraj Chokshi. He shares six maps which illustrate religious popularity, diversity and adherents. One map illustrates the presence of non-Christian groups Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. [Washington Post]

Guantanamo Is Not an Exception: U.S. Prison Policy from California to Cuba. Artists Chitra Ganesh and Mariam Ghani, whose work explores subjects like the prison at Guantanamo Bay and the so-called “war on terror,” sit down with human rights lawyers Alexis Agathocleus and Ramzi Kassem to discuss U.S. prison policy across the globe. Listen to the discussion below. [Creative Time Reports]